日本における昆虫食の歴史と現状 : スズメバチを中心として

In this review, the history and present situation of insect food in Japan are described focusing on wasp and hornet broods. 1. Insect food was reported for the first time in the Edo era and main edible insects in those days were exemplified by the rice grasshoppers and wasp broods. Among these, roasted or baked rice grasshoppers were not only eaten in farming villages where rice was grown but also marketed in big cities as snacks for children. However, insects other than rice grasshopper were taken seemingly only in very special areas. In the Taisho era, Miyake (1919) surveyed edible insects all over Japan using a questionnaire method and thus reported 55 species of edibte insects including 48 identified species (rice grasshoppers, wasps and hornets, cicadas, silkworms, etc.) and 7 unknown ones. Main examples of insects eaten in Japan from the early period of the Showa era up to now include rice grasshoppers, wasps and hornets, silkworms and cicadas. In the days of food poverty during the World War II and immediately thereafter, rice grasshoppers were eaten commonly all over Japan and distributed as a valuable nutritional source both in big cities and farming villages. Until 1950s, boiled and seasoned rice grasshoppers (tsukudani) and dried rice grasshoppers were sold in grocery stores even in big cities such as Tokyo. Today, these products are served mainly in luxury food stores as snacks with drinks in restaurants at local specialties and hotels. However, the rice grasshoppers used in these products are partly imported from China, etc. In the days of food poverty during the World War II and immediately thereafter, silkworm pupae were eaten throughout Japan mainly by silkworm-raising farmers, workers in silk mills and some ordinary families as a fat-rich food, though there is little need for silkworm pupae for edible use today. 2, According to "Shozan Chomon Kishu" written by Shozan Miyoshi (1850) in the Edo era, Vespula. spp. was already eaten in Mino (Gifu Prefecture) and Kiso(Nagano Prefecture). Methods for collecting nets of this insect and cooking it were described in this book. In the Taisho era, various wasp and hornet larvae were eaten in various ways (fresh, boiled, blended with rice, etc.) in 20 prefectures from Hokkaido to Kagoshima. Today, larvae and pupae of insects belonging to the genus Vespa (V. mandarinia, V. simillima, etc.) contained in combs are sold in autumn in grocery stores in mountain villages of Miyazaki, Ishikawa, Aichi, Gifu, Nagano, etc. These wasp and hornet larvae are not only used in domestic dishes but fried or boiled and seasoned with mirin, sugar, soy sauce, etc., and served in restaurants, etc. Vespula flaviceps larva dishes are one of delicacies in the Chubu area including Nagano, Gifu and Aichi both in big cities and farming villages. The most popular one in these areas is rice cooked with wasp and hornet broods which are generally eaten during special events such as the autumn festivals. In addition, there are various dishes with the use of cooked, fried or pickled VI. flaviceps broods. 3. In Nagano and Gifu Prefecture, fresh wasp and hornet larvae and pupae in combs are marketed as a food even now. The average wasp and hornet broods received by Tono Fish / Vegetable Market (Nakatsugawa-shi, Gifu Prefecture) during 19 years (1978 - 1996) amounted to 4.2 t/year. The maximum demand (9.2 t) was established in 1986 while less than 1t of wasp and hornet broods could be obtained in some years. Fresh wasp and hornet broods arrive at the market from September to November attaining the peak usually in October. The highest price was ￥14,983/kg (1978) with the lowest being ￥3,046/kg（1983）. 4. Most of wasp and hornet broods were sent to the markets in Gifu and Nagano Prefecture but those produced in other prefectures are supplied from Nishinasuno-cho and Otahara-shi (Tochigi Prefecture). In this area, the wasp and hornet nests were collected by about 500 specialists called “Toriko" involving 50 full-time workers. From September to November, they covered the mountains and field areas not only in their own prefecture Tochigi but in the Tohoku and Kanto areas to collect Vespula spp. nests. The collected nests were bought up by 2 brokers. 500kg/day of nets are purchased by each broker and the maximum annual yield amounts to 15 t. Through September to November in 1996, the price of these nests was ￥4,500/kg, though the price rangss from ￥7,000 to ￥10,000/kg in 1980s. A Toriko collector can usually collect from 7 to 8 kg/day of wasp nets, while a skilled one can collect 15 kg/day of nets. In an abundant year, a collector can sometimes get even 20 to 30 kg of nests in one day. These Toriho collectors, in this area, originate in the facts that wasp and hornet broods in this area had been used since 1920s in canned product plants established in Nagano Prefecture and that a number of skilled nest collectors came to this area from Nagano for cultivating Nasu Highland during the Tais ...